


Scars That Run Deep

by LunaTheBlackWolf



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Demons, F/M, Family Fluff, Gauntlets & Greaves - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Old scars, Romance, Yang Xiao Long - Freeform, angel xiao long-black - Freeform, haunted, mercury black - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24808504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaTheBlackWolf/pseuds/LunaTheBlackWolf
Summary: Three days after the wholesome events of "Angel Xiao Long-Black", our story takes on a darker note as Mercury finds himself being haunted by old demons that plague his dreams. The young father then begins to fear for his daughter's future as he knows the world will never forget what he once was, and will make sure Angel knows one way or another, at some point or another...The second half of this Part 2 will be up hopefully by Sunday ^_^
Relationships: Mercury Black/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Scars That Run Deep

_The stench of smoke and taste of ash in the back of his throat woke Mercury from his sleep, the former assassin coughing as he shot up from bed and found the room engulfed in flames. Kicking the covers off his body, he covered his mouth and nose with the collar of his shirt before making a break for the door._

_Wait. Didn’t he fall asleep without a shirt on?_

_He didn’t have a lot of time to think on it since he ran right into a wall as soon as he passed through the doorway of his bedroom. How did that happen? The room was at the end of a hallway, yet this one made a sharp left turn instead of going straight. Was this one of those dreams where some place you know well suddenly turns into a labyrinth? And even though his instincts were telling him to get to the front door and out of this burning house, his main concern was the whereabouts of his family._

_Yang was not in the room with him when he woke up, and he didn’t hear any screams that would hint at Angel being in any danger. Maybe they made it out safely and were waiting for him! But if that were the case, why didn’t Yang wake him up? Why would they leave him behind? Yang wasn’t heartless, and Angel would’ve refused to leave the building herself unless he was with them. Mercury’s confusion only grew as he passed down a hallway that was much shorter than it should’ve been, then found out he was on the ground floor upon noting the absence of a staircase when he entered the living room. Vaulting over a fallen support beam, he felt the heat of nearby flames as they licked at the legs of his sweatpants._

_And speaking of legs, he felt an unbearable pain in both of his thighs that only intensified the closer he got to the door, and his balance seemed to worsen with every other step. He squinted his eyes as he struggled to see where anything was due to the surrounding heat burning his face, soot and ash invading his lungs like parasites and choking him. Desperately gazing around in search of an exit, he spotted what looked like a doorframe, and without thinking he charged, briefly ignoring the agony in his legs as he shoved his shoulder into the wood with a yell. The door exploded into splinters and embers, his eyes squeezed shut as he ran out of the burning house. Once he was several yards away from the building, Mercury immediately wanted to look for his girlfriend and daughter, wanted to call their names and see them safe and sound._

_His body did not obey him, nor did his voice. In fact, the former assassin seemed to no longer be in control of his own body anymore. It was like he was watching things progress through someone else’s eyes, yet he knew he was still looking through his own eyes. At first, all he saw was darkness since his eyes were still screwed shut, watering a bit after being trapped in a hot, dry atmosphere. He could feel himself breathing heavily while bending over with his hands on his knees, his heart pulsating with adrenaline inside his chest. The pain he’d felt in his legs was now in multiple areas across his body including his face, as if he’d just taken a beating._

_Wait…why were his hands wet?_

_His body seemed to respond to that thought because his eyes opened again. His vision was blurry, but what he saw shook him greatly – the reason he was hurting so badly and why he felt something wet: beneath his hands were blood-soaked bandages wrapped in multiple layers just above his knees. No…then did that mean the house that he’d just escaped was…? His body suddenly stood up straighter and his gaze locked onto two familiar young women appearing from the tree line._

_“What are you looking at?!” He snapped, and yet he didn’t; it was his own voice he heard, but his lips hadn’t moved. Mercury had no idea how this transitioned from a weird dream to watching one of his most unpleasant memories like some messed-up documentary film from his own eyes._

_“I’m looking for Marcus Black.” Only Cinder could say a simple sentence and manage to sound both collected and impatient as hell._

_The memory began feeling more real once Mercury could actually taste iron and copper in the back of his throat. His past self then spat out a glob of blood and gestured to the lifeless corpse of his old man on the side of the dirt road. He remembered he never took his eyes off of Emerald and Cinder when they approached him so many years ago, yet for some reason his body kept his father’s body in his line of sight, not wavering._

_“He’s taught you well.” The words echoed almost endlessly in his mind, a horrible sinking feeling crushing his chest and making it difficult to breathe. Suddenly, everything went dark and Cinder’s voice disappeared from his mind. Now, he was in a familiar bookstore with Emerald, quietly switching off the lights so as to not draw the attention of anyone passing by the windows outside. He could feel the sadistic grin that had crossed his lips that day, when he knew he was moments away from putting a bullet in the rogue Faunus’s skull. And not a second after he thought that, the bookseller had lunged at his old partner and slashed with his retractable claws. Mercury could still remember as clear as day the fear he saw in Tukson’s eyes mere moments before his boot made contact with his face and fired. The cat didn’t even have his Aura up…_

_Once again, darkness. Then, dozens of stadium lights nearly blinded him, and the boos and yells of thousands of people was almost deafening. He was on the ground clutching his ‘injured’ leg, as well as crying out in false agony. In his peripheral vision, he saw a familiar blonde-headed girl looking terrified and confused as she was surrounded and held at gunpoint by Atlesian soldiers and Knights. Just before this memory faded, Mercury could see the horror in Yang’s eyes as she watched two medics carry him away on a stretcher, truly believing that she had seriously injured him without reason._

_The scene changed again to one he was all too familiar with. The growls and shrieks of what looked like millions of Grimm echoed in the night while he, Emerald, and Cinder watched from a high rooftop as the creatures of darkness coated Vale like a roach infestation. He knew he was grinning like the cat that ate the canary as he captured all the chaos on a live broadcast with his scroll. That didn’t really happen, he knew for certain he was putting up a façade, in reality feeling sick to his stomach. He remembered the ground shaking beneath their feet and turning the camera onto Cinder as she faced Mountain Glenn, which eventually gave birth to a massive Wyvern. Its horrific cries made his ears ring, even if this was just a dream._

_The next vision Mercury did not recognize at all, yet the fear he could feel in the atmosphere was horrendously familiar._

_“I was trying to protect you…” Now able to control his own body again, the gray-haired man turned when he heard his own voice speaking behind him. The scene before him included an older version of himself, as well as an older version of his daughter. Everyone always said that Angel was basically Yang’s mini-me save for the personality, but seeing her before him as a young teenager, she was a solid 50-50 between her parents. The only thing stopping him from labeling this vision as remotely wholesome was the blistering rage and betrayal reflecting in his daughter’s violet eyes._

_“Protect me?” She repeated with a scoff, her arms crossed over her chest as angry tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. “From what? From the fact that no one is going to want anything to do with me because I come from a family of murderers?!”_

_“Angel, listen to me. The past is the past for a reason, and the people who are your real friends wil- “_

_“Oh cut the crap, Dad!” The teen interrupted angrily, two tears slipping down her red cheeks. “You lied to me! You had every opportunity to tell me the truth yourself, but you didn’t! I had to hear from a bunch of kids doing research that not only was my father allied with a group of terrorists, he was partially responsible for Beacon being destroyed and so many people dying! Quite a few by your own hands! And to add a cherry on top of the cake, apparently being an assassin runs in the family because my grandfather was a serial killer known all over Anima!”_

_“Angel…”_

_“Do you remember I grew up hearing everyone in our family tell me how alike you and I are? I used to think that was the coolest thing ever…Do you have any idea what it’s like to hear that, and then have people tell you they don’t want to be near you anymore because supposedly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? All of my friends avoid me like the plague because they think I’m plotting to kill them or something! That I’ll be just like my father and his father before him!”_

_“You and I are nothing like Marcus,” Older Mercury finally spoke up, his tone firm. “Yeah, I did a lot of messed up stuff when I was younger, but I’m not that man anymore. I’m not proud of the lives I’ve ruined or taken. I have a family now, and nothing means more to me than that.”_

_However, the stubborn and hurt teen ignored every word that came out of his mouth, shaking and hanging her head the whole time as more tears fell from her eyes. “It’s not fair…I HATE YOU!”_

* * *

A crack of thunder boomed outside the house at the same time Mercury’s eyes shot open and he sat upright with a gasp. Breathing heavily and covered in sweat, he glanced around and found he was in his own bed, in his own home, and not in the fiery hell that was his childhood prison. He exhaled deeply with relief when he looked beside him and saw Yang sleeping peacefully, the remainder of her right arm stretched in his direction. If she had her prosthetic on, that arm would’ve been draped over his waist, which was a comforting thought.

_She wouldn’t need a prosthetic if it weren’t for you._

He shook his head a bit to drown out the voice that often whispered to him from the deep, dark reaches of his mind. Even when he pretended to not hear it, the weight of the words never failed to make his heart feel heavy in his chest. And no matter what he told himself, he knew deep down that the voice was right. He may not have sliced her arm off himself, but he did help recruit the man who did. He may as well have been the one to swing the sword…

Sighing, Mercury quietly got out of bed and left the room, his footsteps instinctively light. The house was cloaked in darkness save for the moonlight and occasional flash of lightning through the windows. Luckily, his acute sense of his surroundings plus his memory allowed him to blindly navigate his home with confidence. Before reaching the top of the staircase, the young man found himself pausing in front of a door to his left that was slightly ajar. He exhaled heavily before slowly pushing the door open so it wouldn’t creak and disturb its sole sleeping occupant.

Angel was terrified of thunderstorms, especially at night, so it was a huge relief to see the little girl sleeping soundly in her small bed. Feeling his heart grow a little lighter, the former assassin silently entered the room and kneeled beside his daughter’s bedside. On the floor beside his knee was Angel’s favorite stuffed cat, Mr. Sprinkles – a gift from her Aunt Blake for her first birthday, and she has since then refused to sleep without the toy by her side. Picking up the plush feline, he tenderly slipped it under her arm so she was cuddling the cat, then pulled her blanket back up to her chin so she wouldn’t get cold. His touch remained as gentle as a lamb when he brushed her bangs out of her face and tucked the locks behind her ear. It probably wasn’t gentle enough because he felt her face scrunch up a bit beneath his fingertips; he had woken her. 

“Daddy?” The little girl whispered as her violet eyes fluttered open sleepily. She couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but she recognized the calloused texture of her father’s hand.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Mercury answered just as softly, gently petting her snowy hair to keep her relaxed so she wouldn’t get too energized. “Sorry I woke you, Princess.”

“Are you okay?” Sometimes he really wished she hadn’t inherited his perceptiveness.

“I’m alright. The thunder woke me up, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” It wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth. She didn’t need to know about his nightmares though…Yet.

“Is the storm gone?” Angel asked with concern. Her father glanced at her bedroom window and could hear rain still falling, but he hadn’t heard any recent rumbling.

Mercury shook his head. “The worst is gone, now we just have to wait for the rain to stop. You slept through it like it was nothing, tough girl.”  
He could sense the smile that was undoubtedly on her face from the praise. “Did Mommy wake up, too?”

“Nah, you know your mom: she snores so loud, an Ursa couldn’t wake her up,” He joked, which earned a soft giggle from Angel. His daughter’s laughter must’ve been magical, because he found it impossible to not smile whenever he heard it. Even in his lowest moods, her purity and joyousness never failed to lift his spirit and warm his heart. He then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Go back to sleep, okay Squirt?”

“Don’t forget Mr. Sprinkles,” The child requested before he felt the toy’s plastic nose suddenly touch his cheek, since she couldn’t see exactly where his face was.

Mercury smirked a bit and shook his head before obeying his daughter’s wish, kissing the top of the cat’s head. “Good night to you, too, Sprinkles. Watch over Angel like always, or else you’re going to the pound.” He chuckled when he heard his daughter quickly tuck the toy close to her protectively, likely giving him the stink eye.

“Night Daddy…” A soft yawn left her lips a moment later.

“Good night, Angel. I love you.”

“Love you, too…” Her reply came out a bit jumbled as sleep slowly started to reclaim the child. For several moments, Mercury stayed where he was, gently rubbing her head until her soft breathing evened out which signaled her return to the world of dreams. Making sure to be extra quiet, the grey-haired man got to his feet and exited the room, keeping the door ajar like it originally was. He sighed when he once more found the house flooded with deafening silence, leaving him alone with his earlier thoughts. He then made his way downstairs while rubbing his tired eyes, heading out the front door.

Even as he walked on the front deck and sat on the porch swing of his own home, nights like this still sometimes led to the former assassin making unexpected trips down memory lane. Mercury could remember several sleepless nights spent in that house with Marcus. Several cold, rainy nights like this where the outside world appeared to feel as rotten as he did. Those nights, he struggled to sleep because either every little noise kept him awake, or because he was too afraid to sleep. Back then, he feared for his life every time his eyes were closed for longer than a blink because he never knew if or when his father would eventually just decide to get rid of him. It didn’t help that one of Marcus’s favorite ways of killing his targets was by slitting their throats while they slept, then watching as they desperately gasped for air while they bled out.

To turn a bad dream into a nightmare, Mercury remembered the night he passed out from one of his father’s daily ‘training’ sessions, only to wake up hours later with both of his legs gone. He remembered the horror he felt, as well as the throbbing pain…but the anger is what he remembered the clearest. And that’s all he remembered up until he realized his father was dead by his hands, having little to no memory of their fight or how he killed the bastard. And for about 30 seconds before Cinder and Emerald had shown themselves and made their offer, he remembered thinking to himself: I’m free…

At the time, he was thankful that Cinder and Emerald had shown up, because those were the scariest 30 seconds of his life, until recent years. Yes, he was finally free from a lifetime of pain and torment, but what now? Where would he go and what would he do? He didn’t know how to be normal in a society unfamiliar to him, nor did he truly know what normal was. His normal was around-the-clock beatings labeled as training, lessons on the quickest ways to kill someone as well as the crueler ways, a few knife-handling lessons, and fewer on how to create sedatives and poisons. Outside of the pain and violence, he felt as lost as a young child forced to fend for themselves. Cinder recruiting him was in a way a blessing in disguise, but Mercury was smart enough to recognize when he was being used. However, he was a pawn in a game of chess larger than he ever could’ve imagined. 

Things got better after he found Yang and switched sides, but in a way they also got worse. She strutted into his life with her sunny personality, heart of gold, eyes of fire, and awful sense of humor, and completely turned his world upside down and inside out. Suddenly, every emotion he had been denied growing up and were completely foreign to him, they were pelting his mind and heart like arrows from every direction. Feeling cared for and caring for someone were not things he knew or understood, nor was he certain if he deserved to feel such things. If his own father hated him with a burning passion, then what possible reason would anyone else have to love him?

For a while, Mercury could only go with the flow of things until he could figure all of these new emotions out, even after Salem was defeated. But he was once again thrown for a loop when he found out Yang was pregnant. And when the big day finally came, and Angel had held onto his finger with her tiny hand for the first time and locked eyes with him…he finally fully understood what it meant to love someone and be loved by someone unconditionally and without prejudice. And yet, he would find himself still only standing on the tip of the iceberg.

Mercury nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand on his shoulder broke him from his thoughts. Instinctively, he had grabbed onto the wrist of the person who had snuck up on him, but a familiar voice stopped him from thinking of retaliation. “Easy, tough guy.”

The former assassin sighed heavily as he let go of Yang’s arm. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come out.”

“You didn’t hear me say your name either,” The blonde pointed out with concern as she sat beside him on the porch swing, draping a blanket over him since all he was wearing was sweatpants in the cool weather. Feeling how tense he was, she wrapped her single arm around his waist and gently pulled so he was laying back against her, her chin resting atop his right shoulder. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Twinkle Toes?”

“Nothing important, I guess I drifted off in the rain or so-…” The lie died almost immediately when he felt her hand on the back of his neck, lightly scratching that spot just below the base of his skull that never failed to make him relax. His eyes shut and his head leaned into her touch almost subconsciously, leaving him only able to exhale with a mixture of defeat and content. The head scratches felt great, don’t get him wrong, but Mercury at times felt annoyed that something so small could basically turn him into useless putty in her hands. 

Well…hand.

“This is the third night in a row you’ve woken up in the middle of the night from nightmares,” Yang spoke a few moments later after giving him time to calm down. “I was gonna let it be since we both get them from time to time, but yours have never been this frequent, or left you so rattled. And don’t try to tell me you’re shaking from the weather, because we both know it’s nowhere near cold enough to even get goosebumps out of you.”

He honestly didn’t even notice he was trembling, or that his fists were clenched until she stopped scratching him and gently weaved her fingers through his.

“Merc, why are you really out here?”

Mercury was quiet for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. “Do you ever worry about the future? Particularly Angel’s?”

“All the time,” His girlfriend answered without hesitance, her violet eyes filled with concern. “What’s got you so worried?”

“The dreams always start with me reliving some of my worst memories,” He started slowly, his hand squeezing hers to keep himself grounded. She kept her grip firm, silently encouraging him to continue. “Then, I see Angel, but she’s older - usually a teenager. The scenarios change with each dream, but…one way or another she always learns the truth about…what I was. Gods, the anger and betrayal in her eyes…People treat her like she’s some kind of disease because of me, like she’s some kind of rabid animal that will rip their throats out at any given moment…The dreams always end with her telling me she hates me.

“The other day when we went to the cliffs to watch the sun rise? She had asked me about why the moon was the way it is, then begged me to tell the story of what happened. And I told her, but thinking about my involvement with Salem made my blood boil and she picked up on it…I didn’t tell her everything, but she knows I used to be a bad guy, that I hurt a lot of people, including you.”

“Why would you tell her that?” Yang asked.

“I can’t lie to her, Yang…” He answered with a tired sigh, his heartbeat feeling more like he was being punched from inside his ribcage. “Then she hugged me and told me I was still her hero…Gods above, Yang, I’m not a damn hero…You don’t do the things I did and get called a hero. You don’t think like I do and get called a hero. You don’t look at a person – doesn’t matter who – and immediately know a dozen ways to kill them, how to make the death look like an accident or suicide, where to dispose of the body, and how to remove any evidence that could lead back to you…and get called a hero. Because that is exactly how my brain is wired, even today. Do you have any idea what it’s like to look at my family, and the very first thing to cross my mind isn’t ‘I would die for these two’, or ‘I love them with all I am’, but…”

He had to stop for a moment, not wanting to finish the horrible sentence. After swallowing the stone-like lump in his throat, he continued in a hoarse tone. “Maybe I did change sides, maybe I did turn myself around, and maybe I did help you all save the world…But no amount of good will make people forget the bad. My records could be wiped clean as if I never so much as littered in my entire life, I could be sporting an official Huntsman license with the highest ranking, killing Grimm by the hundreds every single day, but the world will always remember the assassin. And they’ll make sure future generations never forget that one little detail about their so-called hero.

“How can I look Angel in the eyes when my past ruins her future?...” When Mercury opened his eyes again, a single tear slid down each cheek like the cold rain trailing down the walls of their home.

For several moments Yang was silent as she pondered his words, her heart pounding painfully with empathy and sorrow. Taking a shuttering breath, she simply tilted her head so her temple touched his, a small yet meaningful way to show that she was here for him as she thought of how she could help ease his pain. Then it hit her, and she softly asked, “Do you remember the day Angel was born?”

Mercury cleared his throat before answering. “How could I forget? Aside from getting to finally meet my daughter, I got a broken arm and multiple threats of castration.”

“You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope.”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Anyways, remember something went wrong and I went into shock not long after she was born, and you were more or less left alone with her? You told me she cried nonstop for a while during that time, right?”

“Yeah?” He answered with a raised brow as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, unsure of where she was going with this.

“What got her to calm down?”

Now he understood. “I was scared to get near her, but I knew she must’ve been more terrified than I was…I walked over to her, and I held her tiny hand, and I told her we were all gonna be okay. She got quiet really quickly, then she finally opened her eyes.”  
The blonde woman nodded and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “She had no idea who you were yet, but she knew your voice and therefore knew she was safe with you. Now, when she was trying to learn to walk about a week after figuring out how to crawl, who held her hands to help even when she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own?”

“I did.”

“Who made a show of ‘killing the monster’ under her bed when she went through that phase last year?”

Mercury’s shoulders shook a bit when he chuckled at the memory. “Me.”

“Who is the first person she looks for when she gets scared, whether from a bad dream or the weather?”

“Me,” He sighed softly.

Yang let go of his hand and gently turned his head so his gray eyes locked with her violet ones. “And you said she now knows you used to be a bad guy, but doesn’t care, right? I know they may not seem like much given the things we’ve been through, but Merc, even doing something as silly as trying to squeeze that big head of yours under a tiny bed in order to fight off an imaginary monster means the world to a child. Because of all that, she knows she can count on you to protect her, to support her and her goals, to be straightforward with her, and to be there for her no matter what. And I know she’s still so young and naïve, but she is ridiculously smart for her age; even if she knows you were telling her the truth, she’s not gonna change her view on you because you’ve never given her a reason to doubt you.

“A million professional Huntsmen with squeaky clean records and bright, sunny personalities will never inspire hope and love in her like her father does.”

Mercury stayed silent and broke eye contact to stare at the ground, and Yang knew she needed to get his attention back before he disappeared back into his head. Getting to her feet, she picked up part of the blanket and sat on his lap before covering them both back up. Momentarily ignoring the coziness of his body heat, she pressed her forehead to his in order to regain and keep eye contact.

“I know you’re scared of how other kids are gonna treat her one day when they learn about the Fall of Beacon and everything that followed,” She said while her fingers mindlessly traced his sharp jawline. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, all three of us. Enjoy the time you have with her now, because she won’t be your little girl forever.”

“That reminds me,” He finally spoke with a sigh, draping one arm over her shoulders and wrapping the other around her hips. “Are you sure she can’t take a gap year or something? Does she have to start school in January?”

“Yes, we’ve talked about this before,” Yang snickered, leaning her head against his left shoulder. “She does need a proper education, and she does need to eventually meet kids her own age.”

“Home schooling is always a thing. I mean, I never attended public school and I think I turned out pretty damn great.”

“And yet your socialization skills remain questionable to this very day.”

His trademark cocky grin made its presence across his lips, a welcoming sight in comparison to the agonizing sadness in his eyes moments before. “If my social skills are so poor, Blondie, explain to me how it is I’m currently sitting here talking to you about our kid’s future.”

“Because for some odd reason or another, I find you stupidly charming,” She teased while reaching up to brush his bangs out of his face, her hand lingering on his jaw where a fine layer of dark stubble was starting to grow.

Mercury noticed what she was doing and rolled his gray eyes. “Don’t even ask, the answer is still no.”

“Awe come on, can’t you let it grow out just for a week?”

“Hell no. It’s itchier than that cast I wore after you broke my arm.” He scratched his chin as he said this. “And it makes me look like a hermit or something.”

“It does not,” Yang disagreed, her thumb brushing over his bottom lip. “I think it makes you look tough. And mature.”

“Well, hate to break your heart, Blondie, but it’s getting shaved in the morning.”

His girlfriend pouted. “Jerk.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is.”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“I thought I was a jerk?”

“You are!”

“Then why call me an idiot if I’m a jerk?”

“Would you shut the hell up!” Yang grumbled while smacking the stub of her right arm against her boyfriend’s chest, which only made him laugh.

Grinning almost sadistically, Mercury leaned his head down and nuzzled his nose into her cheek. “Y’know, for a Huntress, you’re pretty damn rude. You could’ve said ‘please’ and I would’ve considered your request.”

“That is a load of crap and you know it,” She remarked with an eye roll, feeling a patch of goosebumps on the back of her neck and arms as his warm breath tickled her collarbone.

“Awe, come on, Blondie~ I’m a reasonable and negotiable man.”

“When it benefits you, sure.”

“Well, that is partially true, yes. But I am more of a ‘quid pro quo’ kinda gu-”

“Alright Buster, calm down,” She interrupted with a chuckle as she nudged his head away with her shoulder, having felt the hand on her hip playing with the hem of her shirt.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about; I’m as cool as a cucumber,” He defended innocently, though his eyes and grin were anything but.

“Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you, Twinkle Toes.” Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, Yang got up from his lap and slung the blanket over her shoulders. Turning her head, she asked him, “You coming back to bed?”

The playful mood had died down pretty quickly, and Mercury sighed as his gaze once more returned to the falling rain. “Yeah, I’ll be up in a minute.” He didn’t start feeling cold until he heard the front door click shut and she was out of his sight.

A moment later, there was a break in the clouds and silver moonlight lit up the darkness of the night, drawing the assassin’s eyes to the sky. The moon gleamed in all its brilliant, luminescent glory as the rain gradually began to lessen and the clouds dissipating. Like him, the moon was broken and floating in a seemingly neverending chasm of darkness. And yet, all its pieces were kept close thanks to the pull of gravity, and it was able to light up the night thanks to absorbing sunlight. Then there were the many stars to help keep it company and shine just as brightly.

The love of his friends and family kept him in one piece. Yang’s fire warmed him and chased away the darkness. Angel shone just as brightly as her mother, as he knew would any other children they might have one day.

“Only difference between you and me is I can hold my sun and stars,” Mercury thought aloud as he finally tore his gaze away from the shattered moon and stood up from the porch swing. Taking in one last breath of fresh air, he went back inside and quietly made his way upstairs. As he did earlier, he paused by Angel’s door and listened to the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing for a moment. After reassuring himself that his daughter was safe and content, he walked to the end of the hallway into the master bedroom. Yang was in bed and had her back turned to the door, but he could tell by her breathing that she wasn’t asleep yet. “Room for one more?”

She rolled over and gave a quiet “mhm” while patting his pillow, her violet eyes watching him sleepily as he crawled under the covers beside her. Scooching over to his side, she laid her head next to his so the tips of their noses were touching, and her left hand automatically found its way into his silver-gray hair. Almost as soon as she started gently scratching his scalp, she saw his eyes quickly become clouded with mental and physical exhaustion. “You okay?”

He didn’t fight it when his eyes slipped shut under her relaxing touch, but Mercury did manage to answer his girlfriend just before he was coaxed back to sleep. “I think I will be.”


End file.
